Jokester turns his ‘Emotional
Support Beer’ idea into reality
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
Brooklynites looking to
take the edge off after a stressful
year are in luck, as the local
jokester behind the worldrenowned
“Emotional Support
Beer” has turned his liquid
friend into an actual brew —
all while raising money for a
good cause.
“I was originally just doing
it to be silly,” said Floyd
Hayes. “But then it went on to
be this global thing.”
A Clinton Hill resident,
Hayes garnered international
headlines after he registered
his beer as an emotional support
animal with USA Service
Dog Registration — noting
that, “if you go to a party, and
want to break the ice,” a brew
provides some much needed
relaxation.
“A lot of people thought I
was some sort of right-wing
agitator,” said Hayes. “But the
beer industry loved it.”
Soon, brew-makers across
the country were contacting
the hops-loving funnyman,
offering to team up and bring
his trusty fl uid friend to life.
“After I got all this press, a
couple breweries called me,”
he said. “But, I couldn’t quite
land the perfect deal.”
Soon, however, as Hayes
hid away upstate during the
pandemic, local lager makers
at Woodstock Brewery fi nally
helped turn his liquid therapy
COURIER L 34 IFE, MAR. 26-APR. 1, 2021
into reality — canning a
6.7 ABV Citra Hops IPA with
hints of tropical fruit, mango,
passion fruit, and papaya.
“It’s quite strong,” he said.
“It’s got this fruit-mango vibe
that’s got a lot of fl avor.”
Staying true to the roots of
Hayes’ original light-heartedness,
a portion of the proceeds
from all Emotional Support
Beers will go directly to Operation
At Ease — a do-gooder
organization that pairs shelter
dogs with deserving veterans
and fi rst responders,
while providing free training
for post traumatic stress and
light mobility service dogs.
“Beer, while helping veterans
and shelter dogs? What a
good idea,” said Hayes.
While the brew-man hopes
to see his colorful cans of stress
relief stocked in more stores
soon, thirsty Brooklynites
looking for a pour of emotional
peace can order an Emotional
Support Beer online at drinkwoodstock.
square.site.
BY JESSICA PARKS
The duo behind the cult-favorite
ice cream parlor Ample
Hills are reopening their recipe
books this summer with
a new creamery in Prospect
Heights — building out a space
focused on the social aspect of
ice cream.
“It’s really based around
gathering, being social and
passing the time together,” said
Jackie Cuscuna, one-half of the
husband-wife duo who fi rst
launched Ample Hills in 2011.
Cuscuna and Brian Smith
— who sold Ample Hills in June
after fi ling for bankruptcy —
said they were delighted to adventure
out on the newest iteration
of their passion for frozen
sweet treats, which they’ve
aptly called “The Social.”
“It’s not every day and it’s
not everybody who gets that
chance to do it again and try
to learn from your mistakes
and do it right,” Smith said.
”As Ample Hills grew we kind
of got further away… from
the creative life force of what
started it.”
The new space will open on
Washington Avenue, just two
blocks from the Brooklyn Museum,
and will allow the ice
cream maestros to churn their
recipes in-house — going back
to the basics to make creamier,
more fl avorful ice cream than
what they served before.
“We had gotten a little complacent
with the base recipes
and formula that we were using
and hadn’t sort of considered
that there might be a way
to make the ice cream even
creamier and even smoother,”
Smith said. “We’ve really gone
back and sort of broken down
the recipes and changed them.”
And for longtime fans, the
duo is even improving some
old Ample Hills favorites to
serve in the new space, they
said — including an ode to
their signature Ooey Gooey
Butter Cake fl avor.
“We have fi gured out a way
to do something that is even
ooeyer and gooeyer than that,”
Smith said.
As a tribute to their name,
the Social, the business owners
plan to offer a new fl avor
each month that will raise
awareness about different
causes — similarly to how ice
cream socials were often the
setting for fundraising events
and community meetings.
“Our name, the Social, is
really a nod to the ice cream social,”
Cuscuna said. “Ice cream
socials in the past were parties,
parties with a purpose, to raise
money for a cause.”
This time around, the duo
will also offer more than just
ice cream — with a seltzer
maker for egg creams, and
sodas made from their homemade
syrups.
“We will have a seltzer arm
on the counter so we can make
those drinks from scratch,
which is something we always
wanted to do at Ample Hills
but were never able to quite
get around to,” Smith said.
The new location near St.
John’s Place will also be open
longer than their former Ample
Hills locations, with coffee
and donut offerings in the
mornings to capture a coffee
shop vibe during the early
business hours. “It’s another
way to gather at your local coffee
shop,” Cuscuna said.
In another transition in
their former endeavor, named
after the rolling hills described
by the renowned author Walt
Whitman, Smith said Social
will have a brownstone Brooklyn
theme as opposed to Ample’s
rural aesthetic.
“This is going to be much
more of a Sesame Street urban
neighborhood vibe and feel,”
he said. “It will still be heavily
illustrated… but it will
be much more brownstone
Brooklyn aesthetic.”
The pair is planning a slew
of programming for the space,
and is planning to offer space
for parties and private events.
“We have really built
around that concept of the
monthly ice cream social and
treat that in the same way for
birthday parties and ice cream
classes,” Smith said.
Man’s best friend
Ample Hills founders will churn ice
cream again in return to P’Heights
BROOKLYN
A second scoop
COLD COMFORT: Floyd Hayes shows off his certifi cate for his emotional
support beer, which he has now turned into reality with Woodstock Brewery.
File photo by Caroline Ourso
HILLS ARE ALIVE: Brian Smith and his wife Jackie Cuscuna will open a
new ice cream shop in Prospect Heights this summer .
File photo courtesy of Ample Hills